25 October
one thing that makes me so astonished in this class is : this class makes me realized that after all this time surprisingly i did not answer the IELTS exam in a proper way. i fail to answer like the way the exam maker expects me to do.
but this is a common mistake for the IELTS taker. a particular trap to make sure that someone is deserved certain score of the IELTS result.
before we talk that far, please allow me to explain what notorious means. notorious is a term to symbolize a well known someone or something with a bad terminology. a cruel one. like you watch a superhero movie, the boss of the boss of the villain. yup, that character is notorious. an antagonist part of the movie who causes the drawbacks at its best.
in IELTS, the notorious questions are on the reading test.
in short : this trap scattered properly in four locations : true/yes false/no not given, multiple choice, matching heading/information, and completing summary.
in my journey, completing summary is my best friend. following with T/F/NG. but my real enemy is multiple choice and my notorious character is matching/heading information question type.
outside my class, i told Betari several times that i always got trapped in question type which containing a choice. i have a constrain to choose the best answer because every choice seems like true answer. everytime i express my frustation, Betari, with her wise smile always reminds me to be patient with myself and trust the process.
the light will come as long as i stay with this journey.
finally in this meeting lights come to me. as i said in the beginning of this post. i have been getting lost to find the best answer because i don't have the strategy. for the question type with a multiple choice, please do not focus on the passage or question. focus on the choices first. eliminate the incoherence choice that not match with the context of passage, then look what the question wants, finally search it on the passage.
do not answer a multiple choice question type in the IELTS reading like the way you did it on your national exam. it's an entirely different game.
oh wow, it's exactly what i do all this time. i read the question, search on passage, then deciding the answer by considering all the choices. gotcha, it's understandable why i always get wrong answer in this section.
oke, let me take a breath about my foollies, i personally didn't know where is my brain at that time.
now this is the time to face my personal notorious part : matching/heading information question type. previously, in this question i look at the question first, then try to resume the passage, and deciding which one is the suitable answer.
exactly the same way like i did in my national exam. and i have the same result : none of them is true.
for this kind of question, first thing first is i must understand all the heading/information provided in the box (usually). scan the passage, then answer the question. this kind of question is a little bit trickier than the multiple choice part. in the multiple choice, the challenge is to eliminate incoherence information with the context of the passage, meanwhile in heading/matching the exam point is to find an appropriate heading/sentence who sums up the resume of the passage that asking for.
literally two parts with different strategy, but i do it like answering the national exam.
the other two parts that are my best friend is quite good, but i keep concentrate while answering the question in order to avoid slipped who leads to wrong answers because of my lack of accuracy.
finally, that is my experience in order to introspect, analyze, and evaluate my IELTS reading strategy. i hope the benefit of this meeting really helps me and i can implement it through my real test.
please, give me an ameeen.
Balikpapan, 25 October 2021
Riffat Akhsan -- who did not finish her IELTS reading homework yet
thank you for waiting. your patient really matters. usually i write my experience of my IELTS journey with Betari Aisah in the same week as the class held. but, due to my hectic work - related activity makes this post got some delayed.
but, i still remember how incredible the experience to crack the speaking test. first, i told you again about the philosophy behind IELTS test. the test is not just a score, it's about a metric to measure how deep your English language acquisition skill. a great framework to help you deliver the idea in your head into an understandable way of communication ; speaking and writing. also encourages you to understanding the English language content appropriately through listening and reading.
this speaking topic is the end of foundation class. the next agenda of this private lesson is about how to implement a good strategy in order to gain a higher score than my previous result.
let me tell you about the class. first, Betari gives me a basic formula to structure a good sentence in order to answer the examiner's question. the next stages are, Betari convince me to enjoy with the speaking test ambiance. she makes an analogy that the speaking test is pretty similar to coffee shop conversation. you know, a set up meeting talking with a light conversation at the beginning and often end up with a mind blowing conversation at the end. a two way informal communication rather than a formal interview. the speaking test it is.
one highlighted key takeaways that i want to share is : Betari shows me a video about how the IELTS band score 9 candidate do the test. one thing that i never dare to watch. in my assumptions a perfect score IELTS taker is so natural yet have a bunch of rare vocabularies and deliver it into well flow sentence in the conversation.
but i was wrong.
through the video i get enlightenment that a great score of speaking test is not about the vocab. but about how far you can show your natural english conversation during the test. hence, the vocabulary is quite basic but very well structured, straightforward, and understandable. like a coffee shop conversation. there is no pretending or nervous gesture. no confusing yet complex explanation. everything in the conversation seems smooth and very natural. none of these people who involve in the test look like have a constrains to understand the content of the conversation.
after some contemplation after the class, i have a conclusion that the IELTS speaking test makes me learn about new mentality : just do my best and try to communicate my idea with a sentence that i am comfortable to say. do not intend to give some impression just to hope a higher score. just be confident and trust myself that i can face the speaking test.
thank you so much Betari for the amazing structure of my IELTS class syllabus. i am such a lucky girl who have a diamond chance be one of your students.
Balikpapan, 25 October 2021
Riffat Akhsan -- who can't stop saying a gratitudes witnessing her dream is getting closer day by day
11 October
Photo by David Iskander on Unsplash
after my pain from hell because of period, finally I attend to this class. in the middle of our schedule, this is a whole new skill that i must cracking it : IELTS Writing Task 1.
in my opinion, completing IELTS Writing Task 1 is harder than Task 2. because this is about data interpretation. i do not allow to put any other opinion on this task. just pure understanding the visual data shown by chart, graph, multiple chart, map, table, pie bar, or cycle. the shape of a question is a quiet board to predict.
here the challenge. i do not transcribe the data. i must "translate" the data into a narrative passage in my answer sheet. for some people, this is really a piece of cake because all of the material already provides. but, for me. this is the difficult one ; i am on intersection to sort which is the my interpretation and which one is my opinion.
my first step is, i must understand what the question trying to instruct. what must i do with this visual data ? this part contains identifying the superlative, column, bar, percentages, group of process, if there is a map i must implement the compass language (Naughty, Elephant, Splash, Water),
writing task 1 is really pushing my limits, and Betari shows me that i'm not in the wrong room. because i can identify which one that i must comprehend more and whic aspect i did well.
until today, my IELTS journey is still full of frustating moments because my score is not stable yet. but, i wish i could grit in this process until my exam day.
please, pray for me.
Balikpapan, 11 of October 2021
Faizah Riffat -- still, an IELTS fighter
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